What kind of camera lens would I need to...?

...take professional quality pictures of people, animals, and scenery. I want to be able to manually focus on my subject and have the background "blured out". I was thinking of a Canon Rebel XTi with a 18-55mm and a 55-200mm lens. Or would just the 18-55 cover it? Or my other choice was a Casio Exilim Pro EX-F1. Which would be better? Thanks.